The First One
by BryonyHornedOwl
Summary: Poppy is a species of rare, mysterious owl. When she is rescued from the Devil's Triangle trap set by the Pure Ones, how will her life change when she becomes the first Guardian of her kind? Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter One

Swooping, soaring, turning wide arcs high up in the night sky. Her immense wings seemed to block the stars completely from view. Short hoots shot out from her beak, and carried far and wide throughout the forest. In one swift maneouvre, she ducked low among the trees. Her talons spread out before her, long, sharp and thin, as she fanned out her tail and wings and perched silently within the dense foilage of a tree. Faint moonlight dancing between the leaves only slightly revealed her form.

_I could have sworn I was flying in a straight line...  
_

Poppy rose into the warm, summer night air. Once again, she had tried to escape what seemed like some sort of force field, and this time was tugged downwards harder. She felt her gizzard changing slightly and her mind growing foggy as her flight became sluggish and her wings began to lock in place. The forest floor swirled towards her, dauntingly getting closer to her very quickly. As the last of the pine needles blew up in her face, the call of a male Whiskered Screech Owl echoed in her ear slits, and that was the last thing she remembered.

When she came to, Poppy found that her head ached, and the Screech Owl had poised carefully on her chest. He peered down at her with his squinty gaze. "Are you alright there? You nearly knocked me out of that tree over there," he rasped, guesturing with his wing to a large bush. Poppy gave him a quizzical look and rolled onto her side, only to find her left wing searing with pain. She managed to sit up, and examined the owl in front of her. He seemed unnaturally confused, and kept muttering strange things under his breath. She saw that he constantly checked his mangled foot, and seemed to be looking around the forest floor for his missing toe.

"Who are you?" Poppy hopped over to the deranged owl, dragging her lame wing across the forest floor. He stared at her blankly. "What do you mean, who am I? I, am Ezylryb." he cocked his head to one side and churred dramatically. Poppy shook her head before looking up at the trees around her. Smoke drifted from three trees, and she watched in awe as owls threw bright, flaming hot coals at those trees, never missing their target. Poppy noticed that as the trees burned, her mind became clearer, and she was sure the same effect was happening to the old owl in front of her. "What's going on?" she asked as he hopped up onto a low tree branch to get a better view.

"That would be the Chaw of Chaws," he answered simply, and called out a greeting to a young and handsome Barn Owl.

"We'll be needing a stretcher for this one" she heard Ezylryb say, and before she knew it, a ruddy-coloured Short Eared Owl and a large, silvery Great Gray made their way down before her with a net of tightly-woven vines stretched between them. The Short Eared Owl smiled warmly. "Step on, and we'll to the rest," she said, holding out a wing to steady Poppy.

As she got onto the vine stretcher, and was gently lifted up and away from the leafy undergrowth, strange, warm, fuzzy feelings swirled around Poppy's gizzard. _Is this love? _she thought, _And if so, who is the owl making me feel this way?_


	2. Chapter 2

Poppy roused from her day's slumber and was greeted with a cool, Copper-Rose Rain breeze. The brown wood-owl opened her eyes and peered about her. A bandage made of cobwebs and milkberry vines was strapped around her broken wing and her body like a bandage. She stood and stretched out slightly, noticing the soft nest beneath her feathery feet. She pawed the nest and settled back into it, smoothly turning her head and glancing around the room.

A small wooden ledge served as a bed-side table, and more nests and ledges went along both walls of the large hollow she was in. The whiskered screech she bumped into was at rest in a nest diagonally across from her, but all others were empty. The brown wood-owl looked to her right and noticed the port entrance to and from the outside. Another breeze blew in and a mottled feather floated by and swirled mid-air, spiralling into her nest.

Poppy picked the feather up in her talons and examined it. It was rather ruddy and streaked with black and yellow - it was from a short-eared owl. The thought of Ruby lifting her along with a couple other owls sent her gizzard spinning and she felt a rise of excitement as the owl popped in through the inner entrance at the other side of the hollow.

"How are you doing?" the owl asked, walking over. "The way you looked at me worried me, so I came to see if you are alright" Ruby explained with a sigh.

Poppy blinked and churred shyly. "I'm doing fine," she said in a soft voice. "My name's Poppy. I think it's kind of you to come check on me and - who's that owl over there?" the young owl gestured over to Ezylryb

Ruby flipped her head around. "Oh, Ezylryb? He's our Weather Interpretation and Colliering Chaw Ryb" she explained, turning back to face Poppy. She looked at the owl she had rescued and sighed. _She's actually quite a pretty owl..._ the ruddy Short-Eared Owl thought.

Poppy ruffled her feathers. "What's a ryb?" she asked, letting out a silent sigh as she met Ruby's bright gaze. She wondered what it would be like to be such a good flyer like her...

"Well," Ruby began, clearing her throat. "For starters, I'm not one for explaining..." the owl did a slight uncomfortable and impatient dance with her feet. She felt her heart begin to flutter when she met Poppy's dark eyes, and she smiled slightly. "Rybs are what we call Teachers, or Leaders. Its optional whether you want the name of Ryb, and I for one wouldn't want ryb on the end of my name" she churred playfully.

Poppy smiled. _I wonder how long 'till my wing gets better..._ she thought with a sigh. "Ruby, what chaw are you in?" the brown wood-owl asked.

The Short-Eared Owl blinked. "Colliering and Weather. Hope you get the chaw you want" she said, making her way out.

"I'd be happy as long as it's with you..." Poppy hooted softly as she watched Ruby leave. _Is she the owl - the owl that got my heart beat running away?_

To be continued...


End file.
